Technologies associated with the communication of information have evolved rapidly over the last several decades. Television, cellular telephony, the Internet and optical communication techniques (to name just a few things) combine to inundate consumers with available information and entertainment options. The technological ability to provide interface devices easy to manipulate and responding prompt and accurate not only to user's actual manipulation but also to user's actual intent.
The widest spread interface device used to convey a user's desires to a screen is the mouse. A mouse's motion on a 2-D surface yields a cursor motion on a screen.
Recently, 3-D operating handheld devices provide more and more competitive alternative to the mouse. An exemplary 3D pointing device 100 (that has an appearance similar to the conventional mouse) is depicted in FIG. 1. Therein, a user operates the 3D pointing device 100, for example, altering a combination of x-axis attitude (roll), y-axis elevation (pitch) and/or z-axis heading (yaw) position of the 3D pointing device 100. The effect is a change in position of the cursor 110 on a screen 108. In some exemplary embodiments, the cursor is moved due to linear movement of the 3D pointing device 100 along the x, y, and z axes to generate cursor movement or other user interface commands. The 3D pointing device 100 includes two buttons 102 and 104, as well as a scroll wheel 106, although this configuration is exemplary no intended to be limiting. The motion of the 3D pointing device 100 sensed and translated into output usable to interact with the information displayed on display 108. For example, rotation of the 3D pointing device 100 about the y-axis can be sensed by the 3D pointing device 100 and translated into an output usable by the system to move cursor 110 along the y2 axis of the display 108. Likewise, rotation of the 3D pointing device 108 about the z-axis can be sensed by the 3D pointing device 100 and translated into an output usable by the system to move cursor 110 along the x2 axis of the display 108. It will be appreciated that the output of 3D pointing device 100 can be used to interact with the display 108 in a number of ways other than (or in addition to) cursor movement.
Another example of a 3-D pointing device is illustrated in FIG. 2. The 3D pointing device 200 in FIG. 2 includes a ring-shaped housing 201, two buttons 202 and 204 as well as a scroll wheel 206 and a grip 207. The two buttons 202 and 204 and the scroll wheel 206 are located in a “control area” 208, which is disposed on an outer portion of the ring-shaped housing 201. More details regarding this exemplary embodiment can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/480,662, entitled “3D Pointing Devices”, filed on Jul. 3, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated here by reference.
The pointing devices typically include at least one button that, when pressed, trigger actions related to items displayed on the screen at or around the cursor's position. Such devices have numerous applications including, for example, usage in the so-called “10 foot” interface between a sofa and a television in the typical living room as shown in FIG. 3. Therein, as the pointing device 300 moves between different positions, that movement is detected by one or more sensors attached to the pointing device 300, and transmitted to the television 320 (or associated system component, e.g., a set-top box (not shown)). The movement of the 3D pointing device 300 can, for example, be translated into movement of a cursor 340 displayed on the television 320 and which is used to interact with a user interface. Details of an exemplary user interface with which the user can interact via a pointing device can be found, for example, in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/437,215, entitled “Global Navigation Objects in User Interfaces”, filed on May 19, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated here by reference.
In order to enable various interface operations, the pointing devices include at least one button. This button may be used for selecting a displayed item or initiating other operations (e.g., causing display of a submenu associated with the item) by pressing and/or releasing the button. Plural button-release sequences within a short time interval may initiate different operations. For example, a single click-release of the button may cause displaying information about an application associated with the item, while a double click-release may cause the application to start running. The pointing devices are also frequently used to change position on the screen of the item by keeping the button pressed while changing the position of the cursor.
One problem associated with the dual aspect operation of the pointing device, i.e., change of coordinates and button operation, is that unintended motion (such as, tremor or other unintentional motions occurring when a user executes a button pressing action) may result in un-intended consequences, or inability to achieve the intended operation. The unintentional motions are more pronounced when 3-D pointing devices are used than for the 2-D pointing devices (e.g., the conventional mouse) due to the absence of the support surface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide devices, systems and methods that would stabilize the cursor output when the button is pressed or to allow for a plural click-release at the same location, and achieve a better distinction between a select action and a drag action of the user.